A general vacuum cleaner performs cleaning work by drawing in dirt together with ambient air from a cleaning surface while traveling along the cleaning surface. The vacuum cleaner includes a cleaner body and a suction assembly. FIG. 1 is a view showing an appearance of an upright type vacuum cleaner as an example of the above-described general vacuum cleaner, and FIG. 2 is a view showing the cleaner body of the vacuum cleaner of FIG. 1.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional upright type vacuum cleaner 100 includes a suction assembly 110, a cleaner body 120, a dust-collecting apparatus 130, and a motor assembly 150. The suction assembly 110 has an opening for drawing in dirt (not shown) formed in a bottom thereof from a cleaning surface therethrough. The cleaner body 120 is pivotably connected to one side of the suction assembly 110, and has a discharge opening 127 formed in a rear portion to discharge the air therethrough as the air is drawn in through the dirt-suctioning opening and filtered by the dust-collecting apparatus 130. A front casing 121 and a rear casing 122 form the exterior contour of the cleaner body 120.
The dust-collecting apparatus 130 separates dirt from air that is drawn in through the suction assembly 110. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the vacuum cleaner 100 employs a cyclone dust-collecting apparatus 130 which is mounted in a dust-collecting chamber 125 of the cleaner body 120. The dust-collecting apparatus separates dirt using a centrifugal force generated by swirling the air entering into the cyclone dust-collecting apparatus 130, and also includes an auxiliary filter assembly 140 for filtering a second time the air discharged from the cyclone dust-collecting apparatus 130. Meanwhile, an ascending/descending unit 160 ascends/descends a dirt-collecting receptacle 135 of the cyclone dust-collecting apparatus 130 in the dust-collecting chamber 125 to connect/disconnect the dirt-collecting receptacle 135 to/from a cyclone head portion 131 fixed to an upper end of the dust-collecting chamber 125 of the cleaner body 120.
The motor assembly 150 generates a suction force at the dirt-suctioning opening and is disposed in the cleaner body 120 and is in fluid communication with the dirt-suctioning opening. The motor assembly 150 includes a motor casing 153 for covering the exterior of a motor 305 (see FIG. 4) which generates the suction force. The motor casing 153 also guides the air discharged from the auxiliary filter assembly 140 to the discharge opening 127 of the cleaner body 120.
In a conventional vacuum cleaner 100 with the above construction, since the motor assembly 150 and the auxiliary filter assembly 140 are constructed independently from each other, an airflow path for connecting the motor assembly 150 and the auxiliary assembly 140 is additionally required. Further, a sealing device is also required to seal the airflow path. Also, in situations where the airflow path is provided to connect the motor assembly 150 and the auxiliary filter assembly 140, since noise occurs during operation in the connection portions of the airflow path and the motor assembly 150 and the auxiliary filter assembly 140, there is a problem that a user cannot enjoy a quiet cleaning work. Furthermore, due to the addition of the extra airflow path and the sealing device, a manufacturing process of the vacuum cleaner 100 becomes more complicated and a manufacturing cost is increases.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.